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Analysts at the gate

Posted on May 23, 2013 by Bob Waldie

One of the more peculiar activities IT companies engage in is the “analyst briefing”. For those unfamiliar with this courting process, it’s an event that holds formality and ritual often seen on The Discovery Channel. This is due to the significant influence the analyst community holds within the IT industry. They can provide the necessary grease needed for a business to reach critical mass and they do it under the auspice of research.

Knowing the stakes, technology vendors of all sizes work hard to make time for analysts. Briefings are similar to a sales pitch, but rather than pitching products, companies discuss the market and how their products fit into a complicated IT ecosystem. Every vendor is hoping their market view matches that of the analysts in the room. Good analysts can see the difference between a sales pitch and useful and timely presentation.

Information travels both ways during these meetings, and companies will listen to why a particular research firm’s method is unique or which firm is best suited to cover a particular market. Here are some common themes that we’ve heard at many of our briefings over the last six months.

• The cloud improves efficiency, but benefits can be quickly lost when everything is “remote”.
• Network resiliency is critical because things break, but the faster things can be fixed, the more efficient the network, everything built on top of it, and everyone who runs it will be.
• Opportunities for improvement can be had by focusing on “time to repair” as a key focus.
• Security is more important than ever and needs to be addressed at every level
• Cellular technologies for IT infrastructure are now a “must have” and not just “nice to have”

These trends, combined with our product reviews and market growth have put our solution in a favorable light. Our products operate in some the most complex and demanding network environments all over the globe. Of course, we could have kept our dance shoes in the closet since all anyone has to do is look no further than our passionate customers who rely on our gear to maximize their network resiliency every day.